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Michelle Yeoh's Surgeon Premieres at Toronto Film Festival
Confirmed
In Short: Michelle Yeoh delivers a standout performance in 'The Surgeon,' a thrilling action film that showcases her surgical skills and martial arts prowess.
The film, directed by Roshan Sethi, is a tailor-made vehicle for Yeoh, who recently retired from surgery and is forced to operate on a criminal under duress. Sethi's screenplay is clever, but it is Yeoh's character, Eliza Lim, that makes the film worth watching. "There can be no doubt this film is a perfect fit for Yeoh fans," says The Hollywood Reporter.
Yeoh's training for the role was extensive, involving not only martial arts but also surgical techniques. She observed a pig dissection at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, where the film was shot, and even had a surgeon train her. "My brother sent some very funny short films where I had asked him to cut toast like a surgeon, just so everything felt like a surgeon," Sethi said, according to TheWrap.
The film's action sequences are intense and graphic, with Yeoh's scalpel serving as a deadly weapon. "You'll never shoot a gun again," she calmly tells one of her captors after severing some cartilage in his wrists, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "The Surgeon makes The Pitt look like PAW Patrol," adds Deadline, highlighting the film's brutal and visceral nature.
Sethi's direction is in sync with Yeoh's strengths, creating a medical thriller that explores the human anatomy as a weapon. "It doesn’t take long before she uses her exceptional ability to turn every key body part into a death sentence, particularly in a clock-ticking demonstration of how lethal her hands can be when she sets about slicing and dicing with her scalpel," says TheWrap.
While the other baddies are strictly stereotypes, Yeoh's character is a fully dimensional figure, making the film a must-watch for action enthusiasts and Yeoh fans. "The Surgeon" is a thrilling action film that showcases Yeoh's versatility and expertise in a unique and intense way.
What's confirmed
- The film, directed by Roshan Sethi, is a tailor-made vehicle for Yeoh, who recently retired from surgery and is forced to operate on a criminal under duress. Sethi's screenplay is clever, but it is Yeoh's character, Eliza Lim, that makes the film worth watching. "There can be no doubt this film is a perfect fit for Yeoh fans," says The Hollywood Reporter.
- Yeoh's training for the role was extensive, involving not only martial arts but also surgical techniques. She observed a pig dissection at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, where the film was shot, and even had a surgeon train her. "My brother sent some very funny short films where I had asked him to cut toast like a surgeon, just so everything felt like a surgeon," Sethi said, according to TheWrap.
- The film's action sequences are intense and graphic, with Yeoh's scalpel serving as a deadly weapon. "You'll never shoot a gun again," she calmly tells one of her captors after severing some cartilage in his wrists, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "The Surgeon makes The Pitt look like PAW Patrol," adds Deadline, highlighting the film's brutal and visceral nature.
- Sethi's direction is in sync with Yeoh's strengths, creating a medical thriller that explores the human anatomy as a weapon. "It doesn’t take long before she uses her exceptional ability to turn every key body part into a death sentence, particularly in a clock-ticking demonstration of how lethal her hands can be when she sets about slicing and dicing with her scalpel," says TheWrap.
- While the other baddies are strictly stereotypes, Yeoh's character is a fully dimensional figure, making the film a must-watch for action enthusiasts and Yeoh fans. "The Surgeon" is a thrilling action film that showcases Yeoh's versatility and expertise in a unique and intense way.
What's still developing
- Yeoh’s martial arts skills really come into play in battling these guys by manipulating their mobility in delightfully paralyzing ways.
- There can be no doubt this film, which had its world premiere tonight at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a tailor made vehicle guaranteed to turn up the temperature for Yeoh fans everywhere all at once.
- The Surgeon isn’t a character study, but we instantly know who that character is.
- TIFF 2026: “It was really important for me, so that when I did the movements and all that, it looked real,” the actress tells TheWrap For her role as a kidnapped surgeon forced to perform one last operation in the action thriller “The Surgeon,” Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh took her training to the next level by learning how to actually perform surgery.
- “She ran Michelle through everything, like how to scrub in, how to operate, how to do the knots, everything,” Sethi told Jada Yuan at TheWrap’s studio at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.
- Yeoh took her training quite seriously because she wanted the surgical movements to come off as authentic as possible on the big screen.
- “They were so confused as to why Michelle was at the pig dissection for the day.” Sethi’s brother, a doctor himself, chipped in as well to help Yeoh with her training.
- We’ve already seen that Adam is a smooth operator in that regard.